Computer users often desire to view video or graphic images that exceed the viewable area of a single monitor. For example, designers of large systems often use computer aided design (CAD) tools to generate designs. Many times, these designs are too detailed or too large to fully display on a single monitor with the desired high enough resolution. In addition, users often display multiple computer windows simultaneously. The multiple windows typically overlay and block one another since the viewable area of a monitor is generally not large enough to accommodate more than a few computer windows at the same time.
A typical home computer user may become frustrated by the crowding of the desktop screen by multiple computer windows. A professional computer user, e.g., a graphic artist or a CAD designer, in addition, may suffer from inefficiency or low productivity associated with being able to view only a portion of a large image or having to stack and re-stack multiple computer windows.
From an entertainment standpoint, the industry has always sought bigger, brighter, higher quality, more involving display technologies with continuous improvements, for example, from black and white to color, from color television to HDTV, and from 35 mm film to Imax.
A larger viewable area, i.e., larger screen real estate, and higher resolution, i.e., more pixels, is thus always desirable and very useful, whether for laying out and viewing a larger portion of video or graphic images at the same time or simply for more involvement in the content. Therefore, it is often desirable to display video or graphic images on a viewable area that is bigger than what is typically available on a single monitor. Arrayed display systems have been used to create a viewable area that is taller and/or wider than what is normally available on a single monitor. A typical arrayed display system includes two or more video display devices that are horizontally and/or vertically adjacent to one another.
An important character is the adjacency or the apparent seamlessness of the transition between image segments. If the adjacent segments are too far apart, the users tend to segregate their use of the system by screen segments, thus dramatically reducing the potential usefulness of the larger work surface. Thus, a highly desirable quality of an arrayed display system is the minimization of apparent segregation between the array segments.
One method of diminishing this segregation is embodied in multi-projector based display systems. These systems typically include two or more video projectors that are arrayed in an overlapping adjacent format with each projector being fed by one channel of a visual computer or other video source. The result generally includes a composite image that combines the additive size, the additive brightness and the additive resolution of the multiple channel sources and the multiple projectors.
An example of this projection technology is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,073 entitled “Seamless Video Display,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,136,390 entitled “Adjustable Multiple Image Display Smoothing Method and Apparatus,” and U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,022 entitled “Method and Apparatus for Adjusting Multiple Projected Raster Images,” the contents of all of which are fully incorporated by reference herein.
The use of projector-based display systems may provide a larger viewable area and higher resolution than a single monitor or a display device. However, projector-based display systems are not always suited for widespread use by individuals since the current systems can be expensive, large and technically complex.
Multiple conventional computer monitors or flat panel displays may be placed side by side to provide a type of arrayed display system. However, due to the packaging of most standard CRTs and other monitors, such a configuration typically results in wider than acceptable image segregation, also referred to as a mullion, between the displays. This prevents the displays from having an integrated look as illustrated in FIGS. 1A, 1B and 2.
FIG. 1A illustrates three conventional monitors 100, 102 and 104 placed side-by-side in an array. FIG. 1B is a top view of the three arrayed monitors 100, 102 and 104 of FIG. 1A. The monitors 100, 102 and 104 have viewable areas 106, 108 and 110, respectively. The viewable areas are smaller than the front surface of the monitors because of the respective housings. A relatively wide gap or mullion, e.g., gap 112 between the viewable areas 108 and 110 of the adjacent monitors 102 and 104, exists between adjacent viewable areas.
FIG. 2 illustrates a distracting effect of the mullions between the viewable areas when the three monitors 100, 102 and 104 are used to display a single composite image. The composite image displays the enlarged text “TEST” across all three of the monitors. As shown in the figure, the first T is displayed on monitors 100 and 102 while the second T is displayed on monitors 102 and 104. The relatively large mullions may distract viewers from viewing the text as a single integrated image.
Therefore, there is a need for an arrayed display system that is capable of providing reduced separation between portions of a composite image in adjacent displays as to reduce viewer distraction. The arrayed display system preferably is affordable to a wider range of users and designed to address ergonomic considerations for providing viewer comfort.